A Portrait of Memories
by Lue'cleste
Summary: Set between last chap of DH and Epi. Challenge fic. Snape wakes as a portrait. But what of his soul? Slightly bittersweet exploration of the differences between a portrait and a soul.


A Portrait of Memories.

Disclaimer: Ain't mine. Make no money. Am as poor as a wombat. Just playing with the characters before giving them back. The usual.

This was written as a challenge. See A/N at the end for details.

APOM

Slowly, he opened his eyes. Was he alive? The last thing he remembered were a pair of green eyes looking at him, green eyes that belonged in the face of the one woman he had ever loved.

As the world came into focus, he saw the Headmaster's office at Hogwarts. Confusion settled in as he took in the portraits, the desk… hadn't he died? As he took in the angle of his viewpoint, a sneaking suspicion settled in. He wasn't…

He looked down. Carpet in a dark shade sat under his dragonhide boots, his robes sitting over a comfortable chair. They hadn't… had they?

"He's awake!" he heard a voice cry out. Suddenly, his vision was crowded with people's faces, Potter, Minerva, a number of Weasleys, Filius, Pomona, Granger, others, all crowding around him. All of them began to ask questions, all at once, a babble of voices, overlapping, only a word or two managing to be heard over the others.

"Silence!" He roared. Everyone fell silent. "Could someone- just one person- please explain what is going on here?"

Everyone looked at each other, the sound of shuffling feet heard. Surprisingly, it was Potter who spoke, looking him in the eye, "You deserved a portrait, Sir."

"And, pray tell me, who decided for me, as I never wanted this in the first place?" His voice was a sneer.

"I did." It was Potter. "After everything you did for us, you deserved to have your place, here, with the others, like Dumbledore. And, well, a lot of people agreed, including the Minister. You were exonerated too."

"And, who is the dunderheaded fool now in charge of the Ministry?"

"Kingsley Shacklebolt. It was kind of forced onto him, really, he's acting as temporary Minister, but there are calls for him to be made the permanent Minister. He's not too happy about it."

He pursed his lips in thought, then nodded, "He will make a good Minister."

APOM

It was strange for Severus to come to terms with his new existence. He could move through the portraits of the school, and into the portraits of other Headmaster's or Headmistress'.

Over time, he heard news of those he had known who had lived. Potter married the youngest Weasley girl, and they had a son, James Sirius. He snorted when he learned the name. A part of him twinged when he learned that Potter's second son was named Albus Severus. And Lily Luna their third child. He wondered if she had Lily's eyes.

Minerva did not take the post of Headmistress. She kept in touch, however, eventually even marrying. Despite her age, she had a daughter.

Granger married the Weasley boy, Ronald, and had two children, Rose and Hugo. Thankfully, they didn't have any more. Perhaps being the youngest boy in a large family had turned Ron off of having a large family himself.

Over time, Severus felt like he was losing touch with the world around him. People moved on, got married, lived their lives, and he stayed in his portrait. Over time, more portraits were added for him to move to, but he was still limited in where he could go. He felt like he was fading, with only a few people to talk to on a regular basis.

And that was his life as a portrait.

On platform 9 and three quarters, a young boy with green eyes was worried about going to Hogwarts. His father told him that he was named for two of the best Headmasters Hogwarts had ever seen. This seemed to placate the boy, but not the feeling of dread in his stomach. Being a practical boy, he put this down to nerves.

But what the young boy did not know is that feeling of dread he felt was not nerves, but a memory. A memory of a life before his own.

Severus Snape, late Headmaster of Hogwarts had led a hard life, full of pain. His reward for his sacrifice was to be reborn in a family where he was loved, where he could be brilliant, where he could shine. And no one, or nothing, would take it away from him. A life of freedom.

The portrait of Severus Snape contained his memories, his personality, but not his spirit. His spirit resided in a young boy named Albus Severus Potter, with the green eyes of the woman that Severus had loved.

APOM

A/N This was written for a challenge on the 'Professor Remus J Lupin kicks Jacob's (PedoWolf) ass any day.' FB page. The challenge was to write a story during the years between the last chapter of DH, and the Epilogue. It also had to fit in with canon. From memory, this came second, or third. It took me 45 minutes to write. I decided to use it to explore an idea I'd had… that the portraits are not souls on a canvas, but an imprint, a copy, if you will, of the person they are of. Memories, personality traits, etc. but are just the sum of their experiences. And knowing that Albus Severus was the only Potter child to have green eyes… there it came.

I don't know what happened to McGonagall after DH- it is canon that she didn't become headmistress, as she was considered too old. There's no mention of her being married, from what I know, she never was. So I added a little 'happily ever after' in. And as witches and wizards live longer than Muggles, she was nearing 80 at DH. She could have had a child via magical means. Book McGonagall was also described as having black hair, not grey, so in Muggle years, I always saw her as being somewhere in her 40's.

I don't know if I covered Kingsley's elevation to minister properly. Though, I did always feel that he wouldn't have wanted it. He did seem quite happy as an auror.


End file.
